This invention relates to a sliding door which can be opened or closed with a minimum space for operation.
Conventional doors can substantially be classified into (a) a sliding door which slides along a groove, (b) a swinging door which swings on pivots or hinges, and (c) a folding door which folds like an accordion. However, such conventional doors have required a considerably large space for either their opening or closing operation.
Namely, the sliding door necessitates a door case of a considerable size for accommodating such door. The swinging door may be pushed either way occupying a semi-circular operating space. Such space is referred to as "the dead space" which implies a space which cannot be used for any other purposes but for the movement of the door. The dead space generally provides an inconvenience to any type of house and particularly to a warehouse which has a narrow frontage. Although the folding door requires the smaller operating space compared to those of the above-mentioned sliding door or swinging doors, such a door must necessitate a plurality of door boards which are pivotally connected with each other to impart flexibility to the door. Thereby, the sliding door is weak in structure and also gives a poor aesthetic appearance.
It is an object of the present invention to provide an improved type of sliding door which requires a minimum of "dead space" thereby enabling full or maximum utilization of the space of any house or building.
It is another object of the present invention to provide an improved type of sliding door which can be automatically opened or closed.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide an improved type of sliding door which is of a single construction and thereby can be readily manufactured.